Fascism

The weekend of February 4th-6th 2011, the white nationalists of American Renaissance tried to resurrect their destroyed conference of 2010, this time trying Charlotte NC instead of their usual metro DC conference. NEFAC joined on to a coalition spearheaded by One People's Project and the Southern Anti-Racism Network to make sure that the AmRen conference didn't happen smoothly. And it didn't. AmRen 2011 was cancelled. And in its place, Charlotte had a forum on combatting white supremacy.

After the July 28, 2007 anti-immigrant rally in Morristown, NJ, two neo-Nazis attacked antifascists behind town hall. The neo-Nazis, 40-year old Frederick K. Williams ("Erick_K_W" on Stormfront) and Annette Williams of North Bergen, NJ, jumped from their pick-up truck armed with baseball bats and knives and assaulted pro-immigrant counter-protesters.

WCC (World Church of the Creator), who surprisingly worked with NA (National Alliance) on this one, picked a good town to stir up racism in. It is no surprise that the WCC is trying to channel attitudes toward the recent influx of Somali residents into racist ideology. When city officials (i.e., Mayor Raymond) make blatantly racist statements against the Somali people, and the Lewiston police department participates in their own hate crimes against local Somalis, it makes it easier for people in the community to think that being racist is normal and the answer to the city's problems.

Maine has a sad history when it comes to racism and xenophobia. In the early 1900s Maine had over 150,000 active members of the KKK, more than all but a few of the states in the South. It was Franco-Americans who bore the brunt of their attacks, but the Irish Catholics were also a target. Today it is the National Alliance and the World Church of the Creator who are attempting to carry on the historic legacy of the Klan in Maine. These racists are anti-chistrian, anti-semitic, racist, sexist, and homophobic to their core. They are just as violent as the Klan of old and are seeking to regain the numbers they once had. They provide no real answers to the problems of lack of affordable housing, shrinking job market, and sagging education system. Instead they seek to divide communities and plant seeds of hatred. We must not allow this to occur in our communities.

Americans are raised to hold some things sacred. God, motherhood, the flag, and free markets are among the icons our children genuflect before. As leftists we question or reject the sanctity of some or all of these institutions, in varying degrees according to our ideology and inclinations. And yet we have our own herd of sacred cattle at whose cloven feet we worship. Chief among these holy relics is the United States Constitution, most especially it’s first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. In particular the first amendment, that includes the civil right to the exercise of free speech, is held sacrosanct.

In the coming paragraphs I will seek to dethrone this ideological demigod. My argument is not that the principle of free speech has no value, for it does. Nor will I take an unrealistic, anarchist-purist position that we should neglect the protection of these rights in the civil arena, in the court rooms or even the legislatures. Morality dictates that while the state exists, people need protection from the state by whatever means are possible and effective.